Free A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter Page A

prompted both actions – which meant he had only to give the slightest hint of his own thoughts now to find that his life would be worth less than an instant’s purchase!
    Finn Learson heaved himself inboard. Then, with all the friendliness of recent weeks gone from his voice, he asked, “And what were you doi ng in this geo, anyway?”
    “Counting selkie pups,” Robbie answered shakily. “The same as I used to do every year with Old Da.”
    Finn Learson gave him a long, suspicious look. “You’re sure that was
all
you were doing?” he demanded; and for a moment, Robbie found himself feeling more puzzled than afraid.
    “Of course I’m sure,” said he. “What other reason could I have for being here?”
    Finn Learson did not answer this. He took up the single oar left in the boat, and began paddling with it to reach the other oar adrift in the geo; and as he reached out for it, Robbie decided on the sortof remark he knew would be expected from him at that moment.
    “I would have drowned if you had not been here,” he said awkwardly, “and I owe you thanks for that.”
    “You were lucky,” Finn Learson told him. “I just happened to notice you heading for this geo and kept you in sight from the clifftop. I had the feeling you might get into trouble here, and that was why I was ready for it when you did.”
    The drifting oar came within his grasp, and drawing it inboard, he added harshly, “And so keep out of this geo in future, do you hear? It’s high time you learned to leave deep waters to those who can swim in them.”
    That could have been meant as advice, thought Robbie; but said in that harsh voice, it sounded more like a warning – or even a threat! Moreover, why had Finn Learson sounded so suspicious of his presence in the geo in the first place?
    Crouched in the bottom of the boat, Robbie watched Finn Learson beginning to row, and the nearer the boat drew towards home, the more clearly he saw that he would have to tell
someone
the truth about him. Yet who was there to tell? Certainly not his own Mam and Da, for they would never believe it was the truth – not now that Finn Learson had put them even deeper in his debt with this latest rescue.
    Which meant it would have to be Nicol Anderson, Robbie decided eventually. Nicol had everything to gain by believing the truth, after all, and nothing whatever to lose. It would be worthwhile at least trying to make Nicol believe him!

10. Nicol
    For two days after the rescue in the geo, Robbie waited for his chance to speak alone with Nicol Anderson.
    “I need a word with you, Nicol,” said he, the moment he found this chance. “A private word about Finn Learson and Elspeth.”
    “That’s none of your business,” Nicol told him sharply. “But if you must talk about it, talk to your Mam and Da. I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”
    “But you’ve got to,” Robbie insisted. “My Mam and Da thought the world of him even before he saved me from drowning, and now that’s happened, they’ll not hear a word against him. I’m sure of that, and so what use is it to try talking to them?”
    “Then try holding your tongue for a change,” Nicol retorted. “You should think shame, anyway, for even wanting to speak against a man who has just saved your life.”
    “If he had guessed what I was thinking about him,” said Robbie miserably, “he would have tipped me back into the water and left me to drown in good earnest. That’s something else I know for sure.”
    “Robbie Henderson!” Nicol exclaimed. “That’s a terrible thing to say about anybody!”
    “I know it is,” Robbie admitted, “but I’ve got a good reason for saying it about Finn Learson. It came to me suddenly when he was shoving me back into the boat, and I’m certain I know the truth now.”
    “The truth about what?” Nicol demanded. “You’re talking in riddles, boy.”
    “Then I’ll begin at the beginning,” Robbie told him. “Do you remember the night he